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Why & How Spambots Target Your Website

Why & How Spambots Target Your Website

June 15th, 2017

In today’s competitive world, it’s important for business owners to have an online presence. Websites not only help you reach a larger audience, but can also help you stay connected with loyal customers. They can also, unfortunately, draw the attention of unwanted spectators: spambots.

What are Spambots?

Spambots are programs, created by unethical people, that obtain email addresses from your website. The coding of email addresses makes them easy to uncover. Those creating spambots may also create accounts or leave comments that contain links to obtain email addresses. This helps aid their own search engine optimization (SEO). They also use the emails obtained to send junk mail with fraudulent material, creating spam mail in users’ emails. Spambots often target social media websites, chat rooms, forums, blogs, or any website that may ask for an email.

How do Spambots Negatively Affect My Website?

There are many ways spambots affect the productivity of your website. From a service perspective, these intruders put your current and potential clients at risk for receiving viruses, if they are sent tainted links. Users of your website are also at risk of having information stolen. Not only does it affect those who use your website, but it can affect the accuracy of the statistical data collected on your website. When Spambots hit your website, they create false impressions which can be hard to decipher from actual user sessions. In addition to security issues, spambots many also overload or slow your server. This may increase your bounce rates and lower your Google rankings.

How Can I Prevent Spambots?

Despite their intrusive nature, spambots can be tackled with simple precautions. One solution – make email addresses unrecognizable to robots. Simply remove the “@” or make email addresses invalid with random text on your website. This makes email addresses hard to recover without human correction. The most obvious way to protect your website against malicious attacks is to frequently review your website analytics and run diagnostic reports. If spambots are detected, your webmaster can block them via .htaccess or through a plugin. You can also filter them in analytics. It’s important to have some form of website maintenance plan in place to ensure your online presence is protected, as well as those visiting your website.

If you’re tired of your website being plagued by spambots, call us at 904.330.0904. We can provide an in-depth website analysis to determine the extent of the damage. We also provide ongoing hosting and maintenance services to protect your website from future attacks.

3D Digital is a full-service, digital marketing agency located in Jacksonville, FL. We offer website design and development, video production, social media management and an array of digital marketing solutions, such as display banners and AdWords.